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- Jarrow Cross C of E Primary School
Value in Everyone
Letter to Parents from Mrs McBeth 8.1.2021
Friday 8th January 2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope you are all well and have managed to adapt to this week’s very quickly changing situation. The fact that we now find ourselves in the same situation as Spring time last year is indeed extremely sad and makes for an anxious time for everyone.
Can I just say a big thank you to for all of the wonderful work you have submitted on behalf of the children this week. The way in which you have adapted and supported with home learning is absolute testament to the value you place on your child’s education. Obviously, as with all things our home learning has moved on since March and the staff are trying very hard to make lessons even more interactive and engaging. As expected there has been teething problems, no more so than with staff recording themselves and discarding many takes! And then obviously from your point of view with log ins and returning work. This is only to be expected given the short notice we were all given on Monday night. As I stated in my previous letter Home Learning is now statutory and the expectation is for schools to set lessons for at least three hours per day. Very importantly, however, this does not mean that we expect adults to be sitting with children for three hours each day, the majority of the work set can be accessed independently by your child, all we ask is you support your child when needed and by daily returning at least one piece of work to school by DOJO or email for feedback. Please do not stress if you explain something incorrectly, it will certainly not affect them for ever! All any family can do is their best for their particular situation. We need the children back with us with well parents, when we get out of this situation. When we are all back together again physically, we will work with your children to catch them up. We are very aware that parents are not teachers and also that many of you will also be continuing to work from home yourselves. Rest assured the teachers will be making regular phone calls to offer any support that is needed. Please do not let them simply play X Box etc for six weeks as this will undoubtedly have a negative impact on their return to school. It may be helpful to remind the children at home that those children at school are completing lessons around the same themes and objectives as it is important that all of the children gain the same understanding for their return to school. It is important that the children at school are reminded that children at home are doing the same as them too.
Also, I have added our whole school assemblies to our website. It is very important that we stay together as a school community, therefore each assembly delivered at school will be recorded for children at home to access. This includes Celebration Assembly each Friday which will include awards for children both at school and at home. The assemblies can be found by going to the Parents Section of the website and then selecting Distance Learning, you will then see the Assembly icon. There will also be a topical assembly placed in this section each week from Picture News which is a video clip for the children to watch and discuss. This week’s assembly discusses “Should everyone be allowed pets?”
A suggestion for a typical day’s timetable (depending upon the age of child) could be:
9 am Literacy Activity
10am Watch assembly or BBC programme (the BBC have available from Monday three hours of programmes for primary aged children)
10.30 Break
11am Numeracy Activities
12 noon Lunch
1pm Topic/Science
The day’s activities could also be broken up by PE activities, either those set by school or others available such as Joe Wick’s.
Moving on to other information, we have been notified that the school’s meal voucher scheme for children in receipt of Free School Meals who are not attending school will again be implemented. We do not as yet have a starting date but will keep you informed. Until the scheme begins packed lunches will be available to be collected from school. If you require a packed lunch, please inform the office ASAP.
Can I just finish as always by thanking you for your support. As I stated earlier this week I could not and did not want to ever envisage school closing for the majority of pupils again. However, unfortunately we find ourselves here. I know as last time we will support each other through this very difficult period. Please take care of each other and remember we are here to support not just the children but the whole family.
Mrs McBeth
Head Teacher